Christopher Meloni
Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. Meloni worked as a construction worker prior to getting his acting break. He has also worked as a bouncer, bartender, and personal trainer. Meloni worked his way up the acting ladder with commercials, short-lived TV series, and bit parts in a number of films. His first noticeable role was as the hotheaded son of a Mafia Don in the 1996 thriller Bound. He also appeared as Robbie Sinclair's friend Spike in Dinosaurs and Julia Roberts' fiance in Runaway Bride. From 1998 to 2003, Meloni portrayed the bisexual criminal Chris Keller on the HBO series Oz. Law & Order producer Dick Wolf signed Meloni to play Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999; until Oz went off the air in 2003, Meloni appeared on both Oz and Law & Order: SVU simultaneously. In 2006, Meloni was nominated for an Emmy Award, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his role as Elliot Stabler. In May 2011, Meloni announced that he would not be returning to SVU in fall 2011 for its 13th season after the failure of negotiations over a new contract. Meloni stated he would consider guest starring on SVU in the 14th season. "I'm always willing to consider. I had 12 great years on the show. I loved the people and I loved that character," Meloni said at San Diego Comic-Con International on July 14, 2012, "There’s no bad blood there. We’ll just see when it comes. It’s still doing OK, I guess." He returned to his comedic roots when he portrayed the character "Gene" in Wet Hot American Summer in 2001, the puppet-loving pediatrician Dr. Norris in a 2003 episode of Scrubs, and the character of "Freakshow" (albeit in heavy make-up) in the 2004 comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. He would make another cameo in its sequel, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, as "The Grand Wizard". In 2005, he appeared on episode 107 of MTV2's adult puppet show Wonder Showzen in a series of parody PSAs warning of the threat of cooties. He also had an uncredited role as a gay hotel desk clerk in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. In July 2009, Meloni portrayed DC Comics character Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie Green Lantern: First Flight. He briefly appeared in the first episode of the Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues portraying himself for a fake movie starring Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. Meloni played Colonel Hardy, a supporting role, in the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013). That year he also played Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in the historical baseball feature 42. Chadwick Boseman starred as Jackie Robinson in the film. On November 30, 2011, it was announced that Meloni is in talks with HBO bosses to take on a 'major role' in the fifth season of True Blood as an 'incredibly powerful' vampire. It was later confirmed that he would be taking a role as a series regular for season 5 as Roman, an "ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands." He'll also be starring in the upcoming film They Came Together.